There are around 2,000 No Kings protests today across the country, bringing millions of Americans into the streets to march against the violent lawlessness and aggressive fascism of Donald J. Trump.
In the last week, Trump incited intense protests in Los Angeles through the brutal acts of his ICE militia in the city. To many, this was seen as premeditated, to incite angry protests and provide Trump and his cronies the excuse to stage a vindictive military incursion into the city that would not only wrest political and democratic control away from Mayor Karen Bass, Governor Gavin Newsom, and the people of California but to also instill fear in Americans about exercising their 1st Amendment right to protest peacefully.
Across the country and in other countries, including France, the U.K., and Germany, people are resisting and protesting the autocratic reign of Trump and the threat he poses to citizens in the U.S. and around the world.
In this era of high-octane propaganda that engulfs so many in this country, a large percentage of Americans are being convinced to believe that half the country’s people and immigrants are dangerous and a threat to them. News and facts that would dispute that are excluded from right-wing media and messaging from Trump and his cultish followers on social media. All of this is textbook fascism, following the familiar how-to for overthrowing a democracy and cementing a dictator into power.
Then there are the many Americans who only focus on themselves and their lives. Some consider news and civic responsibility “too stressful,” “too depressing,” or irrelevant to them because they don’t care about society and politics. Though they may be decent people but they choose not to think of their community or the future that their children will have. They have a kind of tunnelvision, only caring about things that directly and immediately impact their lives and interests. There were many citizens like this in the 1930s in Germany during the rise of Hitler who weren’t pro-Nazi but they just wanted to work and raise their families and didn’t want the “negativity” of considering what was happening to their society. While the intentional or unintentional ignorance, the lack of empathy for other citizens being harmed, and the disinterest in the descent of their nation into fascism doesn’t make them bad people, it also doesn’t make them good people to be disconnected from their fellow citizens and their suffering.
Good people care about their friends, family, community, and society. If their neighbor’s house is on fire, they call 911. But of course, a lack of concern over your neighbor’s house being consumed by fire, just ignoring it, can result in the fire eventually jumping from their house to yours, and then it’s too late to escape suffering the same fate they did.
Being a citizen who has lived under and has happily received all the benefits and advantages of a free and democratic society, it is inconsiderate to ignore the sacrifices millions have made through the years to help build and improve the society that they benefit from today. And it is a boon to would-be dictators who count on the ignorance and apathy of citizens to seize power.
The citizens of a country have limited options on how to combat a rising tyrant. The tyrant controls national law enforcement and the military, the nation’s wealth (thanks to a compliant legislature), and the bully pulpit. Violence by the people is not only morally wrong but incredibly foolish. Moronic local militias trained for years to “fight government” if leaders crossed the line and took away “our freedoms” (apparently this offer is only valid against Democrats). Many scoffed at them after considering how these Meal Team Six oafs would fare pointing their rifles at tanks and helicopter gunships. However, now we do actually find ourselves in that moment where our government is threatening and pursuing the destruction of our Constitutional rights and freedoms.
There is only one viable response for the people of a nation to confront a malignant and violently oppressive leader. It is a force that even the president of a country as powerful as the U.S. can’t overcome, and it happens when the people come together in numbers too great to be ignored, attacked, or denied. It is the power of the many.
When citizens take to the streets in protest, no amount of a leader’s power can stop overwhelming numbers of them. A country can’t function when the many won’t comply with their leaders. Yes, leaders can still inflict violence upon some of them but that often leads to a greater momentum and participation in defiance and protests.
Today, we are seeing an energized and exponentially growing movement against the tyranny of Trump. He will never admit it but a narcissist like Trump is no doubt emotionally wounded by such an undeniable expression of rejection of him. Having the emotional maturity of a five-year-old, he may want to “hit back” but he may also want the many to “stop being so mean” to him and he may do something superficially “better”to seem less horrible. Either way, this sociopath president is intent on pursuing a dictatorship that he promised would start on day one of his presidency. Of all of his lies and broken promises, that one will always be one he pursues.
Below you can view videos, photos, and graphics from one of the many protests in Los Angeles that I attended today. Please note the reduction in burning Waymos, the enthusiasm, camaraderie, and wit of the Los Angeles community (check out all the clever signs being held), and consider that this was happening across this country and the world by millions of people.
It’s a long path we’re on to get to the finish line, one step at a time, one day at a time, never giving up and we’ll get there.
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